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Waste and Recycling
Quick Wins |
Medium Term Wins |
Useful Links |
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Why fill up holes in the ground
with unnecessary landfill? It smells, it looks ugly, and can
be bad for the environment as nasty substances leach into
the earth. This includes leachate which is the result of
food breaking down without oxygen that can contaminate water
supplies. By reducing the amount of waste we create, you are
not only helping the planet, but can also save money in the
areas where you are charged per rubbish bag put out for
collection.
Quick Wins
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Keep
separate boxes near your rubbish bin for your waste
paper and other recyclables. This will make it easier to
put your waste out for recycling on rubbish day.
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Make
sure you know what is recyclable in your council area.
Some councils only recycle numbers 1 and 2 in the
triangles, others 1-7.
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Collect together those plastics that cannot be recycled
(eg icecream containers, takeaway containers) and see if
your local kindergarten can use them.
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Make
use of the pink collection bags for unwanted goods – the
charities can make good use of them.
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Use
re-usable sandwich bags or tupperware containers for
your lunches
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Buy
products with a minimum amount of packaging
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Sign up to get your bills
and statements sent to you online instead of being sent
to you in the post.
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Make use of re-usable
cleaning products instead of throw away wipes
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Take
your own bags to the supermarket, or turn down a bag if
you are only getting a couple of items.
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If you
do use the supermarket plastic bags, take them back once
you have collected a few and put them in their recycling
bin. Check out
bagsnot.co.nz for tips on reducing plastic bag use.
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Whether you are at work or
at home, only print what you really need to have in
hardcopy, and always print double sided.
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Return your old
prescription glasses back to your optometrist - they may
be able to send them on to the charities who provide
glasses to those who cannot afford them. Or you
could give them to the Starship Foundation to help them
raise money - check out
www.starship.org.nz/phone to find out where to get
freepost appeal envelopes.
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Take your household
hazardous waste to a HazMobile
collection site. You will find a collection date
for your area once a year.
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If you live in Auckland,
take your
used oil to a drop off bin at Repco stores or at
Total Lubricants in East Tamaki. Make sure the oil
is in a leak proof sealed container.
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Medium
Term Wins
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Create a worm farm and/or compost bin for all your
organic waste. Keep an icecream or other container under
the sink to collect your organics before taking them
outside.
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If you have a lot of garden waste, consider using a
garden bag or green bin company that will collect and
recycle your waste for you.
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Sell your old items on TradeMe or some other swap site
instead of throwing them out.
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Invest in a set of
rechargeable batteries to reduce the number of batteries
that are thrown away each year.
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Talk to your employer and
ask them to provide a way to recycle paper, plastic,
cans, toner and print cartridges.
Top
Useful Links
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Last page update: August 2011 |
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Business Finder
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Use our business finder service so you can find the right
company to supply what you need to help the environment. Just
another way we can make a difference.
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